June 26, 2016 - Windsor Castle

Today we visited Windsor Castle.

The flag that is up today means that the Queen is in residence.

Moat Path

The moat path & moat room, this is not something I would think of when I think of a moat I think of water with who knows what in it.

But would you believe this is the moat.  Isn't it beautiful?  Can I get a moat around my palace?

I saw this little stuffed Corgi in the window and thought I missed that there was another find all the Corgis contest.  If so this is the only one I saw.

There are over 500 people who live and work at Windsor Castle, which is more than any other castle in the world.  It was kind of neat to see kids that live there out playing in courtyards and in a side garden.

We were sad that the St George Chapel was closed since it was Sunday.  We saw that they had an evensong service at 5:15 so we decided to come back for it.

They also do the changing of the guard ceremony here everyday.....except Sunday.

The Queen lives in the section that is behind Roger.

Roger thought that Queen must have stepped out for a minute since she didn't come and say hi to him.  Because if she knew he was there that is for sure what she would do.

We could not take pictures while inside the castle.  I am sure it is due to security reasons.  We have not been able to take pictures inside any of the places that the Queen resides.  But of all of the castles that we have visited this was the best.  I loved the doll house and I am not sure that if I lived there I could keep my hands off of it, I would have to sneak down and play with it. I still can't get over how beautiful the moat is.

Of course after walking around the castle for hours it was time to find something to eat.  Dave picked out a great little Italian restaurant Don Beni. I think the calzone that Roger and Dave got was the biggest that I have ever seen.  They said it was really good.

After a the huge lunch we had it was time to head back to the room so that the boys could rest before going to th evensong service.  It was amazing how many swans that we saw.  You could buy food to feed them from one of the vendors by the river.  They tell you not to feed them if they are outside of the water,  If they are out of the water they can be attacked by dogs or get in the street.

I don't think any of us had ever been to an evensong service and I am not sure if we will do it again but it was cool to sit in the choir seats of the chapel.  I just wish we could have taken pictures.  After the service we stopped and had some ice-cream.  Of course I had to get some hazelnut ice-cream which has to be my all time favorite flavor.  I wish we had it at home.

June 25, 2016 - Alma House

We again traveled first class from Edinburgh to London.  Roger had to make sure he signed us in so they will know we were here.

Of course we had some time and space to be able to play some cards.

After traveling from Edinburgh to Windsor via three trains and the underground we were happy to get to  Alma House.

Cheryl was glad we were able to get on the internet so she could find her key code so that they could get their keys out of the lock box.

After checking out our bedrooms and bathrooms we headed down to our kitchen and breakfast room.

They must have known that Dave & Cheryl were coming & put this up just for them.

Now it was time to head out and find some dinner.

The pedestrian street that runs up to Windsor Castle.

Since we were not familiar with the town once we reached the castle we had not found anything that was open except where we had first had started on the pedestrian road.

So we headed back down to the pub and found a table open in the back.  We watched a rugby game & then some boxing.

June 24, 2015 - Roger's Birthday, National Museum of Scotland

Since it was Roger's birthday today we did what he loves to do and we visited a couple of museums.

First we visited the National Museum of Scotland.

This is a feasting bowl.  There must have been a lot of people at the feast.

Dave was ready to jump on this bike.

We had to stick around until after the clock struck 2:00 so that we could watch the production that happens.  Once we met up with Dave & Cheryl we headed to get some lunch before we headed to the Scottish National Gallery.

It was a beautifully sunny day.

Outside the museum there was an exhibit going on.

I thought all of the buildings were quite interesting.

We headed home and spent the rest of the evening playing cards.